Owen blames two Oregon court of appeals cases from 2014 and 2015 for making it extremely difficult to prosecute car theft cases.

KGW

“What the court of appeals has said, even the strongest circumstantial case isn’t going to be enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.”

In one case, State v. Ship, 264 Or. App. 391 (2014), the defendant was caught by police in a stolen car, with tools to steal the car including bolt cutters and a case labeled “crime committing kit."

And in the second case, State v. Korth 269 Or. App. 238 (2015), the defendant was also caught in a stolen car but told officers he borrowed it from a friend of a friend.

In both cases, the court determined, the state did not prove the person had knowingly taken a stolen vehicle.

“You can have a story as to how they came in contact with the car, which lacks all credibility, and that still may not be enough,” said Owen.

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), comparing two years prior (2012) and post (2017) the Shipe and Korth cases, every Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, except for one, experienced an increase in vehicle theft, ranging from an increase of 16.22 percent to 79.31 percent.

Monnes Anderson just introduced legislation that she says would close the loophole in the law making it easier to prosecute car thieves and making the excuse of “I didn’t know the car was stolen” no longer valid.

KGW

“That’s our job, to make sure we can take care of things like this.”

House Bill 2328 has been introduced and assigned to the House Committee on Way and Means. KGW will continue to follow any developments.